Treacy turns sod on 56 kms N6 Galway to Ballinasloe road project

Date: 04 May 2007

The sod was turned on a major road project in the West of Ireland - N6 Galway to Ballinasloe - today (Friday, 4 May 2007) by Mr Noel Treacy, Minister for European Affairs. The PPP (public private partnership) project comprises 56 kms of new dual carriageway, a 7 km link road to the Loughrea Bypass, 32 kms of side roads and five grade separated junctions. It is being funded under the Government’s investment programme Transport 21, the National Development Plan and private finance raised by ICON (FCC Construction S.A. and Itinere Infraiestructuras from Spain and PJ Hegarty & Sons from Ireland). Work will commence immediately and is due to be completed early in 2010. RPS Engineers are overseeing the project.

At the sod turning ceremony, Minister Treacy said: “This is the second largest road scheme in the Government’s investment programme Transport 21. It will deliver a first class road that will be a major component of the Dublin - Galway motorway. It is a key part of the Government’s programme to upgrade the overall roads network for the country. It will significantly benefit the Western region and it will improve road transport connections, between the West and the East of the country.”

The project will extend from Doughiska, east of Galway city to the existing N6 east of Ballinasloe. It will run from the outskirts of Galway city to Athenry, where it crosses the Galway/Dublin rail line, the Graigabbey river and the Athenry/Limerick rail line. It then continues southeast to the Carrowkeel junction, Kiltulla; continuing north of Aughrim village and on to Tulrush, east of Ballinasloe, where a link road connects the existing N6 at Beagh in County Roscommon.

There will be five grade-separated junctions on the route - at Glennascual, Athenry, Carrowkeel, West Ballinasloe and East Ballinasloe. There will also be 9 roundabouts on link roads, 1 major river crossing, 3 rail crossings, 30 road bridges and a footbridge. There will also be accommodation structures for landowners, side roads and culverts.

Minister Treacy continued: “The N6 Galway to Ballinasloe road project, when complete, will bring many national and regional benefits. It will remove a significant volume of through traffic from the towns and villages on the route, including Athenry, Craughwell, Loughrea, Kilreekil, Aughrim and Ballinasloe. It will reduce journey times and create better competitiveness and it will significantly improve accessibility, between Dublin and the West. I know that this development will be of significant benefit in terms of jobs and economic growth at local level and in the West.”

Under the National Development Plan, the Crusheen to Gort and the Gort to Oranmore road schemes are being accelerated to commence next year. Together, these two schemes will provide some 50 kms of high quality dual carriageway. They will connect directly to the N6 Galway to Ballinasloe project, that starts today.

On the Tuam Bypass, Minister Treacy said that work is proceeding on the planning and preparation. This has now gone through the Planning process and the National Roads Authority are working on the tender documents for a design and build contract. “More than €5 million will be spent on the project this year. The National Roads Authority can be assured of my support to ensure that this critical piece of local infrastructure, proceeds to construction at the earliest possible opportunity”, added Minister Treacy.

The Minister also spoke of the progress being made on the Western Rail Corridor. Iarnród Éireann is due to commence construction work on the Ennis to Athenry section later this year and it is expected to be completed next year. He said: “The reinstatement of the Ennis to Athenry section of the line will allow the introduction of scheduled train services, between Limerick and Galway, the enhancement of existing commuter services between Ennis and Limerick and the development of the Galway commuter rail service, between Galway and Athenry. Work on the bridges is starting this month and work on the track will commence in the coming months. Galway commuter services from Tuam, will be developed under phase 2 of the project. Once the first phase to Athenry is complete, Iarnród Éireann will progress to extending the line to Tuam and onwards to Claremorris”.

Minister Treacy acknowledged the work of the National Roads Authority, under the stewardship of Mr Fred Barry, its Chief Executive and Mr Peter Malone, its Chairman, on delivering excellent national road projects, throughout the country. “Based on their experience with major road projects in recent years, I am confident that this will be another major piece of road infrastructure, that will be delivered on time and within budget.”

Commenting on the project, the Chairman of the National Roads Authority, Mr. Peter Malone said: “This is another major step forward in bringing both the Galway and the Dublin regions closer together, via a safe modern roadway. It will allow for significant economic growth in tourism and general industry alike, through the entire BMW (Border Midland Western) region”.